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Of the animals I've hunted in Africa, Zebra have given me the most trouble of any. My first Zebra hunt was on my first Safari, which took place in Namibia. We hunted Mountain Zebra for 3 days, and they flat out kicked my butt. I finally had to give up and pursue other game.

My 2nd Zebra hunt took place in the old Zulu Land, in South Africa. I shot the Burchell Zebra from @ 200 yards, and held right where the PH told me to. The PH announced, "good shot, he won't go far". Famous last words. Three hours and 4 more follow up shots (all hits), and I finally had my 1st Zebra rug.

The 3rd time I hunted them also took place in South Africa, near Thabazimbi. I was shooting my .375 Ackley Imp. with 250 grain Swift A Frames. I had a shot from @ 125 yards, with the Zebra quartering toward me. I held on the inside of the nearest shoulder and squeezed off a shot. The PH, tracker, and farm owner all declared a good hit. An hour and a half later, it became too dark to continue tracking, and we had to come back in the morning to follow up. We located the stallion, still running with the herd, and I was able to get a shot into it from 75 yards while it was running away. It finally died within 100 yards. My shot from the previous day had hit right where I held, but for some reason turned on the shoulder bone, and instead of penetrating into the vitals, it turned 90 degrees, and followed a path beneath the skin, and exited. I never saw that kind of poor performance from a Swift A Frame before, or since.

This past year I was back in Namibia, and fortunately, Vaughan Fulton, www.fultonclassicsafaris.com has an area where the Mountain Zebra actually can be hunted on the plains, instead of up in the mountains. I took a very old, battle scarred stallion with the 375 Ackley, but this time I used the 270 Barnes XLC bullet. One good shot, and it was down.

Over the years, Zebra have earned my respect as a potentially tough animal to, not only hunt, but to put down, even if the shot is thought to be well placed.

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